Essie - Sunday Funday

Looking for the perfect summery Sunday nail polish? Essies Sunday Funday is the answer. It's a beautiful neon coral with flecks of glitter which I love because who doesn't love a bit of sparkle? 

To prep my hands for a fresh coat of paint I used Salted Coconut from Lush. It's a gorgeous creamy coconut hand scrub. I love the smell, it's Summer in a pot! If you can imagine lying on a beach sipping on an ice cold pina colada, the ocean waves lapping in the background and the sun beating down on your face that's what salted coconut smells like - divine!

Essie is my favourite nail polish. I love the vast range of colours (I'm slowly collecting them all), how they all seem to be fairly consistent with formula, the packaging and of course the names! I love the quirky names and often the name is the final push to get me to buy the polish. Essie nail polish is rather expensive at £7.99 a pop! But often I will wait until Boots has a 3 for 2 offer on so it's not as expensive! 

Hope you have all had a lovely weekend! 

Love, 

Sophie x 

Valentine's Day Nails

I've never really tried my hand at any kind of nail art before apart from some little bunnies I did on my thumbs years ago for Easter (I may try that again this year so look out for that) and now these Valentine's inspired nails. These are far from perfect and need a lot of improving on but it's a start! I think if I had the right tools to start with they could have been easier to do! 

The base coat is a sparkly berry colour from Poundland which I picked up just before Christmas. The heart outline was done with Rimmel London - 404 Ballet Pump Perfection and the top coat was Nail Nurse from Rimmel London also. 

Do you have any tips for starting doing nail art?

Lots of Love, 

Sophie x 

Disney Converse

How awesome are these shoe?! 

These are from Starcrossed Designs on Facebook. The girl hand paints all designs onto either Converse or Dr Martins; I chose Converse as they are more my style. The next step was choosing what I wanted painted on my shoes - this was not difficult for me! I knew I wanted something Disney and as Rapunzel is my favourite princess it seemed like a no brainier. 

The lantern boat scene is so beautiful I picked this to go on one shoe. the second shoe I wasn't so sure what I wanted. I wanted Pascal and Maximus incorporated in the design but wasn't sure how so messaged the girl and she helped me come up with something. I am really happy with how they turned out! 

You can add if you want glittery toes, I obviously chose this because I love anything sparkly! Sparkly laces is also and option - the plain white laces were sent with the shoes so they can be changed. 

The shoes did take some time to arrive! I was quoted about 6 weeks but they took 10 weeks to arrive (I received them Christmas Eve). It was around Christmas so I imagine she was very busy around this time (just something to bear in mind if you wanted to get them as a gift for someone). 

Overall I had a great experience with Starcrossed Designs and I really love my shoes. I am yet to wear them as it's a bit cold and it's been really wet but I think they'll be great for when the Spring time arrives.  

Lots of Love, 

Sophie x

Nars - Sin

The first time I saw this blush was on Miss Budget Beauty's Blog ever since then I have been desperate to try it! It's a gorgeous shade of pink. Before receiving it the other week I hadn't actually seen it in real life but thought I would just go for it anyway, I certainly wasn't disappointed when it arrived. 

 I love the Nars make up packaging but I do find that it can get dirty with finger prints really easily. The blush itself is beautiful shade of rosey pink with a hint of sparkle but not too much - small little flecks. Its not the easiest to blend but can be built up to the level of blush you like. 

Lots of Love, 

Sophie x  

O Christmas Tree

Is that a real fir? 

Since I can remember we have always had a real Christmas tree and this year was no different. I much prefer real ones but do understand why people have an artificial tree - they cause such a mess! Though I think that's all part of the fun - finding pine needles half way through the year in the oddest of places! The smell of a real tree in the house is amazing! I love going down stairs in the morning to the smell of pine needles and Christmas. 

We went to the forest last weekend to get the tree. As always there was such a debate on which one to get. We ended up going for a ten foot tree which touches the ceiling! I love it! The bigger the better when it comes to Christmas trees! 

When we got back it was rather cold so we put the fire on and had hot chocolate and a fairy cake. 

I love our tree so much! It has a Victorian feel to it with the white lights and lots of different baubles. These are some close ups of my favourite baubles although there are too many to choose from! 

Lots of Love, 

Sophie x 

Midnight Mistletoe

Ohh so very sparkly! 

I love festive nails! Well actually I love everything Christmassy - festive nails is just one of the things I love. Red is a classic Christmas colour and something that I'll always go back to. Today I wanted to add a little twist with this glitter bomb nail polish "Midnight Mistletoe" from Rimmel London.

I bought this last year but noticed Rimmel are still selling them on the Boots website. I'm not sure if they have been re-released or if they have been available all year round; either way they are definitely worth the £3.99 price tag. Boots also have a 3 for 2 offer on just now so you don't have to chose just one glittery nail polish!    

The Nails Inc polish is called "Big Red Apple" and was a free gift in a Glamour magazine. I can't seem to find it on their site; it was possibly an exclusive to Glamour but this St James nail colour also from Nails Inc looks very similar. 

Expect to see some more festive nails before the big day!

Lots of Love, 

Sophie x 

Define Good...

Define Good...What a name! A lot of the time I buy nail polish because of it's name, this was definitely one of those times. Also because it's Christmassy and if you hadn't guessed by now I LOVE Christmas! 

This polish was from China Glazes Twinkle Christmas Collection 2014 but it is still available here from Amazon. This nail colour is very matalic and sparkly - which I love! The colour pay off is great near enough opaque with just one coat which makes it a good choice if you are in a rush but want some colour on your nails. With the Essie Super Duper Strong Top Coat the colour last for about four days without chipping which is pretty good! This is the first China Glaze polish I have used before and I would buy from them again. 

Lots of Love, 

Sophie 

P.s We put up our Christmas Tree last night which I wanted to share with you. 

Christmas Wish List

It's December! Which means one thing! I can now be excited about Christmas without being told "It's only November!" 

Today's post is my "Christmas Wish List." Some of these items are more of a "One Day I Will Own But Not Today List" but Christmas is all about your dreams coming true so I wanted to include them in this post. 

To start with is a new pair of Christmas pyjamas. Everyone loves a new pair of pyjamas at Christmas and I'm loving this pair from Victoria's Secret. This is also the Stewart tartan so I think I am biased. 

I've already mentioned in a previous post (What's In My Make Up Bag?) about this Charlotte Tilbury make up bag - I just love it! I'd be happy to find this under the tree.

These Christian Louboutin shoes are to die for! I love the different coloured jewelled coloured jems - they almost look like Christmas baubles.

I'm a bit late to the party with the Naked3 pallet but this is definitely on my Christmas list this year. It's my favourite out of all of the Naked pallets.

This Chanel handbag will forever be on my wishlist until one day I save up and just buy it! It's such a classic piece I just love it!

How cute is this bottle?! Marc Jacobs perfumes always have such detailed and interesting packaging but this handbag design is definitely my favourite - so glamours! This will look great on any dressing table and I hope it's on mine soon!

The Fitbit is a great idea as a Christmas gift. With the ever nearing New Year and New Years resolutions people often chose for a more "Healthy Lifestyle" and this certainly will help kick start that resolution, maybe I'll keep it this year! 

Ever since I was a child I have loved snow globes, they are fascinating! So when I saw this I just had to shake it (more than one actually) which turns the whole thing gold. I think it's a really fun and original idea for a nail polish. I may have to pick up one of these for myself before the festive season is over. This would also make a great Secret Santa gift.

What is Christmas without a new Christmas candle? This one is from Yankee and smells amazing! Just like Christmas in a jar. 

What's on your wishlist?

Lots of Love

Sophie x 

Christmas Truffles

This is such a simple recipe to make and I love the out come! No actual "baking" is involved - the oven stays off the whole time so this could be a great activity if you have children or if not still great fun for adults! These make a great gift and take no time at all to make, the longest part is the cooling - if you can resist eating the mixture! I have made these truffles for years and usually follow a little Christmas recipe book but I seem to have misplaced it! Even though I couldn't find the recipe book because I have made them so many time I managed to remember the recipe no problem! 

Things you will need:

300g of Chocolate - I used Stocbloc but any chocolate would work 

1 Egg Yolk 

2 Tablespoons of double cream

1 or 2 Tablespoons of any type of liqueur or spirit - I used Cointreau (optional)

Glitter, Cocoa Powder, Dessicated Coconut, Orange Zest, anything you fancy for rolling the truffles in. 

First you will need to melt the chocolate in the microwave for 2 minutes, constantly stirring. Once the chocolate is completely melted add the egg yolk, cream and liqueur (if adding) and stir until all ingredients are combined. 

This is the boring part! The mixture now needs to be cooled in the fridge for about 2 hours or until solid. At this point go make yourself your favourite hot drink (gingerbread latte for me), put on a Christmas film (Love Actually), put your feet up and relax! - It's Holiday season after all!

Now the fun part! Once the mixture has solidified you need to roll the mixture into balls and then immediately coat your truffles into whatever topping you like, I chose glitter because, well glitter!

If you try out the recipe I'd love to see your truffles! Either leave a comment below or use the hashtag #sophieschristmastruffles on Instagram.

Lots of Love, 

Sophie x 

Bourjois PSA

Yesterday I had to make a mad dash into town after work to pick up some more face powder (Bourjois healthy balance) before all the shops closed. Luckily I got there just on time!

I picked up the powder and I noticed there was a great offer on - spend £15 get this gift with the value of £29 for free! The gift set is called "Rouge Glamour" and includes four full size products including: Smoky Stories Quad Eyeshadow in #06 Upside Brown, Volume Glamour Max Mascara in Ultra Black, Rouge Edition Velvet Liquid Lipstick in #Hot Pepper and lastly So Laque Ultra Shine Nail Polish in #24 Rouge Escarpin. 

This is a great deal and well worth the money especially if your looking to pick a few essentials. 

To take my total up to over £15 I also purchased another sparkly lipgloss (a girl can never have too many glittery lipglosses). This is a beautiful gold shimmer gloss and will be perfect for the festive season.  

Bourjois Effect 3D Lipgloss in Top Coat - £7.99

Bourjois Healthy Balance in Vanille - £8.99

Available Here

Lots of Love

Sophie x 

Starry Shimmer

I am still trying to get to grips with blogging but I am hoping I can stick at this and it grows into something amazing! 

This was a total impulse purchase for me. I hadn't seen any of the Guerlain Christmas collection before the weekend (there isn't a Guerlain counter in Aberdeen much to my disappointment!) So when I was in House of Fraser, Glasgow I knew I was going to spend a good amount of time looking at all the seasonal make up collections. 

I love this years Guerlain Christmas collection, so much shimmer and sparkle which I love all year round not just at Christmas! 

The Maxi Shine Gloss d'Enfer stood out to me the most out of the whole collection and I knew I had to have it! I love the snowy look and the way the light catches the multi colour glitter.

This is going to be a great addition to my make up bag and can't wait to wear this over a berry coloured lipstick for that added wintry look. This would also look great on its own for a simple look. 

I am still to test this on an evening out but plan on wearing it tomorrow at a ceilidh. I'll let you know how I get on. 

Guerlain Maxi Shine Gloss in D'Enfer Intense - £23

Available Here

Lots of Love 

Sophie x